Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 20, 2012 8:43 pm Hi I am looking to build my first home in approximately 6 months and have been looking at several builders but Metric*n has caught my eye. There are a few of their homes that interest me (Rochester 26 and Lindeman 27). Off the bat with no changes the prices are 200k-210k. I have heard several people building that costs can blowout 50k-100k pretty quickly, is this true? I understand site prep/earthworks and slab can fluctuate several thousand dollars, but apart from this id only want to put in granite benches in the kitchen and bathrooms, have timber flooring throughout the property, upgrade architraves, cornices and maybe some windows. i understand granite benches are expensive but how much can it really blowout above the expected price? My total budget is 250k, looking to build starting at the 200k mark but allowing 50k for "if sh** happens". Am i being realistic? Any comments appreciated By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 2Jan 20, 2012 9:01 pm A couple of points..... If you look around here some people have paid tens of thousands in site costs. The cost of show houses as displayed are often 50% above the cost of the standard house. This link will give you an idea of the additional costs for building a house with a few upgrades and site costs. http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?p=6 The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 3Jan 20, 2012 10:25 pm If you are looking at 200k-210k houses then it will be a MINIMUM of 50k added to the price if your lucky with your site costs and extras included. A bank is a place that will lend you money only if you can prove that you don't need it... Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 4Jan 20, 2012 10:41 pm Does your $50k include driveway, flooring, landscaping, windows coverings, lights etc etc? I'm not sure what Metric*n include as standard but we are building with Masterton and are looking at about $60k on top of the base not including the extras listed above. I think you'll blow your budget real quick. Timber flooring alone is gonna be close to $15-20k in a 30sq home. Stone bench tops $5k-$10k? And although you might say these are the only upgrades you want now, you will more than likely add a lot more. We are building a fairly modest single storey on a flat block with M class soil. Our site costs are $16k and stat, council and BASIX costs another $19k. Theres $35k of your $50k gone already. If you hit rock then $$$$$$$. I was told add $80k to $100k on top of the base and you'll have the finished house price. So far its looking about right for me. Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 5Jan 21, 2012 8:56 pm Sounds about right the houses we are looking at base price is around $180,000 (single story) but my budget with site costs and finishings will be an extra $100K Metric*n - The Real Cost 6Jan 21, 2012 10:14 pm hurryupandbuy My total budget is 250k, looking to build starting at the 200k mark but allowing 50k for "if sh** happens". Am i being realistic? Any comments appreciated Mate sorry to say but no not even close to realistic. Sensibly budget at least $100k above the base price for site costs, basix (if applies), upgrades, flooring, fencing, turf, landscaping, driveway, letterbox, clothesline, window coverings, floor coverings, tv antenna, fly screens, etc. I'm assuming you need these items though. Also I understand when you say you have limited upgrades but it's amazing how quickly things can add up (ie go to your colour appointment and you happen to like a different tap/handle or non-standard tiles with extra labour cost). They know how to get your money! Good luck, I'm keen to see how you go. Building the Piazza 300 with AV Jennings / Sekisui House - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46023 Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 7Jan 21, 2012 10:35 pm How much of that would be spent on site costs? Are you building on a sloped block or poor ground conditions? By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 8Jan 22, 2012 10:34 am We are building a lindeman 28 at the moment and the base house price is for the house and then whatever is in the standard inclusions list. This outlines everything you get for that base price. EVERYTHING else is extra. Studio M is where you choose your extras like bench tops etc. This is where the extra money gets spent. http://lindeman28.blogspot.com - Our building blog Metric*n - The Real Cost 9Jan 22, 2012 12:39 pm hurryupandbuy How much of that would be spent on site costs? Are you building on a sloped block or poor ground conditions? When we built our house last year we paid additional $6000 for upgrade to slab (h class soil not m class which is standard). Additional piering may be required. Any fill to be brought in or removed is a cost to you. Our block is 40m front to back and only 2m fall over that distance so is reasonably flat. If they hit rock then costs can be significant. Just remember, EVERYTHING extra is a cost. Want any rooms a different colour? Extra cost. Want tiles bigger than 200x200 in your wet areas? Extra cost per sqm to lay them. Etc,etc. Building the Piazza 300 with AV Jennings / Sekisui House - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46023 Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 10Jan 22, 2012 1:20 pm Have a look at the house & land packages offered by builders. This will give you an idea of what the house with the site costs will be. Then add on your upgrade allowance to that. The M3tric0n website has house & land packages listed - select the house & then the area you want to build & it'll give you a list of blocks with a price including the land & site costs. Our house (with Carlisle) was offered as a house & land package on the block we built on. It makes no difference to the process really, we still went & bought the block direct through the land sales the same as normal. Then Carlisle gave us fixed price site costs as they'd priced the house as a package. We then selected the facade & did the upgrades as normal. We ended up with a contract price around $60K over the advertised house & land package. Funny thing was that when they did the soil test they discovered it was actually a H class slab. They didn't charge us any extra as we'd agreed to fixed price site costs. So we paid $6000 for site costs for a H class slab, with about a 60cm fall. No cost to remove soil. Fixed price site costs is the way to go if you can get it. As an example, your Lindeman 28 in Clyde has a package cost of $436,000 - so that's the basic house, site costs & land. In Tarneit $427,000, Point Cook $480,000, Mernda $456,000 etc. It's possible M3tric0n don't fix the site costs though, as the package says "site costs allowance." Add on your upgrade costs including electrical (downlights, extra power points etc), then your post construction costs such as driveway, window coverings, aerial etc, & you'll have some idea of the total. Most of the major builders will have some promotion where you get things like stone bench tops included. Floor coverings included may include timber laminate. Check with the builder. If you look at M3tric0n's house & land packages they have an option to price it including driveway & fencing allowance. Michael Built Carlisle Atlantique 36 Our build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=50256 Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 11Jan 22, 2012 2:52 pm hurryupandbuy How much of that would be spent on site costs? Are you building on a sloped block or poor ground conditions? My site costs, basix etc will end up between 40 & 50K and that is with a block that as 40cm fall from back to front of the block Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 12Jan 22, 2012 4:21 pm I think that you can be reasonable with costs. For example, I am building through Scott Park Homes. We went with the floorplan of a house we love, so no need to change walls/add windows, etc, so therein ****** money saving. We are doing a lot ourselves after we move in, such as: painting, putting in the floors, window coverings, floor tiling in the laundry, clothesline, antenna, smart-wiring the house, etc. There are a lot of things that don't have to be done straight away or by the builder, because the builder adds the markup. Getting the laminate wood floors we want through SPH would have cost roughly $13,000, but we are getting them done ourselves afterwards for $8,000. Our base house cost was $160,000, and we got the necessary unable-to-change-later things included for a total final cost of $178,000. We are doing roughly $28,000 of stuff ourselves later over a period of a year, basically when we can afford it. Just get into the house, and do it up later with the things that can be added. You don't have to include everything up front - Ally Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 13Jan 22, 2012 7:54 pm I asked a question from the rep as I was sitting in the display home, I first asked him what the list price was, then I asked him what it would cost if I wanted to build an exact version of the display home, the difference was over $200K. I found this useful as I could envisage myself living in the display home, was struggling to believe that if they pulled 200K out of it would it even feel like the same house? Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 14Jan 23, 2012 9:58 am wildewombat I found this useful as I could envisage myself living in the display home, was struggling to believe that if they pulled 200K out of it would it even feel like the same house? Dont forget the same again in furnishings Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 15Jan 23, 2012 10:19 am the base price is exactly that a base. by the time we had added on site costs, facade, bushfire requirements, flooring, a few minimal upgrades we were + $100K I could have easily gone over that but we had a limit and therefore kept our upgrades to a minimum. Metric*n - The Real Cost 16Jan 23, 2012 10:22 am Not only that, but many internal design features they create (and materials) in display homes are not offered by the builder. Metric*n - The Real Cost 17Jan 23, 2012 10:50 am Our base price was about $140,000 our finished price including carpet, tiles, air con is about $320,000 If i got the glass splash back and cs bench top that would be another $10,000 Plus on top of that we still need to do the yard up, by the time we put up a gable and pave (ourselves so no labour) a bit of lawn and plants we are looking at about $40,000 - $50,000 plus fences etc. Do your homework I regards to prices for upgrades, some of the costs we paid were huge but it was easier to get the builder to do it. Look at what basic things you could live with for a few years and then upgrade later. I know a few people who have just lived with. Event floors for up to 5 years before they had the money to tile or lay carpet. Good luck. Jasmin Hickinbotham Belmont - modified Signed: February 2011 Slab should go down before 2012 My build thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=52310&p=799483#p799483 Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 18Jan 23, 2012 11:13 am This is the same with 99% of builders. We went and picked a house, carried out the tender process, only to find we still had about $60k worth of upgrades to go. Its because of this that we specifically asked to have the tender put together as per the display home which did not happen. How do you think we felt when they told us the bricks were an $18,000 upgrade!!!!! I was told by the customer service officer allocated to our job to consider the whole display home as an upgrade!!!! So imagine where the cost of our home could have gone. We already had $85,000 in variations to the display home and this didnt include the bricks. As a result we pulled the pin and found a smaller well known builder who gave us the total price of his display home "as displayed". Sure it came as a surprise to hear its worth $550,000 but its much easier in my opinion to work backwards and find a quality of home and cost that was best suited to us than be continually told there is another variation to add to the tender cost. Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 19Jan 23, 2012 11:35 am We've just built with Metri, our house base price was 198,000, our final cost was 278,000... and this included: Site costs (including 2 retaining walls that were crazy $$) Facade Floor plan changes (3 extra doors added, linen cupboard, alternate master layout) Driveway Ceaser benches in ensuite & kitchen only Upgrade from standard tiles Upgrade from standard carpet Electricals (downlights, double p.points & lots of them, two way light switches etc) Cabinets in laundry Ducted heating Not included - any landscaping, air con, fences, Having said that, we are pretty happy with the build over all. Feel free to PM if you want some more info. Building the Milano30 Site start: 30th June 2011 PCI: 1st December 2011 Handover: As soon as the bank pays! Approx 16th December viewtopic.php?f=31&t=44051 Re: Metric*n - The Real Cost 20Jan 23, 2012 11:43 am for my 30sq metre house, my extras for timber flooring, caesar stone benchtops throughout, curtains, air con, driveway site costs, dishwasher, glass splashback etc came to $60k. I'd recommend you check out Hermitage Homes before you make a final decision. If you want to know more just PM me 7 11931 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37085 Fair Trading can issue orders to rectify and complete but once the matter goes to NCAT these orders are automatically vacated. You will have to terminate contract and sue… 21 29679 |